MLB.com May Strike Out

Recently, Major League Baseball has begun to provide its viewers with access to games online. According to investors.com, last year MLB.com produced an impressive 1.3 million paid subscribers. With the success of the service in the past, the site decided that this year it would try to maximize its profits.

For the first time, the MLB will be charging consumers an online viewing fee as well as obtaining fees from advertisers for online ads. Marketers will be paying about $35 every time their ads are watched by 1,000 viewers. To charge both fees is unprecedented.

This is a huge risk and money seems to be the driving force. In order for this to be successful, content providers must not let quality fall by the wayside. Content creators need to offer something worth pay for if they want users to continue using their site instead of another.

Keeping Content Fresh for Users

Evolution is key. A vital entertainment resource for devoted sports fans, ESPN has successfully maintained its popularity with consumers. ESPNRadio.com recently re-launched with a new enhanced and redesigned site to continue adding value in the online arena, according to WebWire. The main feature is the "Super-stream Player," which provides ESPN’s national programming and five ESPN owned stations that broadcast all day, every day.

Companies need to keep a watchful eye on their Web sites and know when it is time to update them. Sites are not as easily disposed of as fads, but they definitely need to be updated with fresh content to keep users' interest. Adding new features, like ESPN did, will help attract new users and create stronger bonds with current ones.

CBS Broadens its Sports Reach

To many sports fans, there is nothing better than watching games and rooting for your favorite team. According to WebProNews, this passionate love of sports is why CBS recently purchased the online sports network MaxPreps.

Now sports fans can track players in their area who may have potential to join the major leagues. This addition to the CBS portfolio will greatly broaden the sports information the company provides and, in addition, open the company up to a very loyal target market.

The acquisition will also be beneficial for MaxPreps, which the majority of current users are males 14 to 18. The new exposure should generate interest from all age groups. The sites cover close to 80,000 high school football games and over 500,000 basketball games played each year.

With fans' love of sports only growing stronger, there is no doubt CBS made a smart choice in obtaining the popular site. The additional attention this acquisition should generate will be an enormous benefit for all parties involved. Giving users more choices is certainly a great way to gain loyal and new users.

Hockey Team Looks for Hat Trick in Marketing

Online marketing, while continually evolving, has become an effective way for companies to advertise to consumers. The Maple Leafs, a Canadian hockey team, decided to take its advertising to a new level through its interactive Web site.

According to globeandmail.com, The Leafs decided to provide live streaming regional telecasts of its games. However, the new and interesting part is that viewers are also allowed to view different camera locations as they watch the game. Viewers will be able to visit the broadcasting booth and even take a look at the dressing room where players are interviewed after the game.

Chris Webb, the head of broadcasting from Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, feels that "If the media are allowed in, why not the fans?" The main goal of this new service is actually to gather information and help the team learn what the fans want. The team is asking users for feedback and inviting viewers to help design the new service.

It will be interesting to see if these new "offerings resonate with the true, blue leaf fan." The bigger interest is what this does for sports marketing. Instead of letting a third party market for the team, the team itself is taking charge and marketing on its own terms.

The "Madness" Hits the Online Arena

March ushers in springtime, warmer weather and the cornerstone of college basketball, "March Madness," which CBS owns the exclusive rights to air. This craze offers a huge opportunity to optimize marketing in the online forum. According to CNNmoney.com, during the event’s two-day run, 32 games will be played.

Last year, an astounding 1.3 million people signed up to watch the games for free online, which ran different commercials than the ones being aired on the TV. To ensure there are no glitches in this process, as there have been in the past, the broadcasting company has decided to add several new features to its service:

CBS has doubled server capacity, increasing the rate that videos are streamed and boosted the default size of the screen on the video player by 50 percent, according to an article by PaidContent.

The thing to note here is not so much the new features, while those are important to the end user, the thing to note is the fact that CBS is focusing on improving its online forum. It makes sense with such a huge online audience, why not funnel money into improving the online medium to offer the best possible viewing experience? Other companies should heed this warning: take care of the online medium and it will take care of you.

Sports Marketing: Stripped down

A recent blog from Pat Coyle discussed the use of video captured from the perspective of a fan. He’s been nicknamed "Zack Legend" and he is a season ticket holder of the Indianapolis Colts and an avid chronicler of emotions and reactions of Colts fans.

The potential here for both parties is enormous. The videos have gotten attention and can now be viewed on Colts.com, which is beneficial for “Zack Legend” and the Colts are getting free marketing and a new source of traffic generation to the Web site.

The blog poses a question as to why other marketers are not rushing to jump on this bandwagon. Why doesn’t Coke contact him and have him drinking a coke? Or why doesn’t Chevy have him tailgate off of one of its cars? These are valid questions because what “Zack Legend” has harnessed is the power of pure marketing: capturing true emotions from local fans. From a marketing perspective the greatest attraction for consumers is feeling a connection to something.

In no uncertain terms, this blog poses ideas about where marketing should go and that’s away from this professional feel. Let’s bring it back to the people who know it best—the people themselves.

Consolidation Continues in the Sports World

ESPN continues evolving to stay ahead of the curve in online marketing. It announced that it would create a network of local online Web sites of its affiliated radio stations, according to a Mediaweek article.

The local sites would be integrated with ESPNRadio.com so that visitors can get a mix of local and national sports news. From a marketing perspective the ads may have to change because now a local and national audience can be reached from the same place.

It is important to note that the recall of advertising is dramatically enhanced when a mix of radio and Internet is used together as compared to Web site ads alone, according to research from the Radio Ad Effectiveness Lab. While the problem of fragmented segments and communications vehicles may have been solved for ESPN, other problems arise, which need to be accounted for in order to create an effective marketing strategy.

Sports Sponsorships-a Caveat

A recent post from Pat Coyle discussed the fact that NFL teams are Web publishers because NFL sites attract audiences. This fact alone makes them a cash cow in the marketing world because these sites constantly garner money from advertisers desperate to reach a target market.

The conclusion of this article, which some might say is a shameless plug for sports marketing, culminates in the fact that as long as the model for online sponsorship continues to evolve then large investments from advertisers should continue to flow into sports sites because of the rich audience.

However, the argument is somewhat flawed because if this model continues fans may stop coming to the site so frequently, which would negate the efforts of both the advertiser and those responsible for the particular sports site. While this trend is certainly a good one for marketers to follow to reach an audience it comes with a caveat: there is such thing as too much of a good thing.

Heartburn and the NFL: A perfect match for sports marketing

Now in its second year the heartburn drug, Prilosec OTC, has teamed up with the NFL for an online promotion called “NFL Season of a Lifetime,” according to a blog post from Pat Coyle.

This promotion allows one lucky fan to win a chance to go to NFL games every week during the season. This has allowed the brand to make a "deeper, richer connection,” with customers, according to Steve Steinbrunner, Interactive Marketing Manager for Prilosec OTC. Prilosec has also made several deals with NFL clubs to do some promotion but has yet to release what that will be.

This is forward thinking on the part of Prilosec OTC because it has stepped outside the original guidelines of marketing a drug and forged a different path to reach its target market. Other marketers should keep sports in mind when wanting to appeal to an audience.

Use of widgets in Sports Marketing

Most sports fans love sports because it lets them be a part of a team. When making a connection, most fans log onto their team’s Web site, and they can take a piece of the team through the use of online widgets.

From a marketing standpoint, even sports teams are a brand that needs to be sold. Widgets are a great marketing tool that can take many different forms from buttons to videos to slides.

Colts.com created a widget that scrolls through that latest action of a Colts game, according to a Pat Coyle blog post. Users can take this widget from the original site and move it to other sites. Widgets also act as data collectors, so marketers can review where the widget moved and how many people used it. The current widget on Colts.com has been posted on 1,600 sites and viewed more than 100,000 times, according to an article by Pat Coyle.

These widgets are producing results. Marketers love to see these numbers and users love to see the creativeness that Web sites produce. So the next time something on your Web site (or the site itself) needs to be branded think easy, effective marketing—think widgets.

Another round, please (of online advertising)

With Super Bowl Sunday just around the corner, sports fans are pulling out the grills, loading up on chips and, of course, the main dish—beer. Many people watch the Super Bowl because new advertising is always rolled out and with the premium prices companies pay, the ads better be eye-catching to say the least.

This year viewers might want to pay more attention to what is available after the game instead of during. Anheuser-Busch (A-B) looks to cash in on the increasing online audience by launching its own online entertainment network called Bud.TV, according to paidcontent.org. This site will be the first advertiser owned and operated network on the Internet.

A-B recognizes that this new medium is where it needs to target its core demographic of 21-27-year-old males, which comes with a price. For this project A-B redirected money from its cable and late-night spots to its online budget, which makes it 10 percent of its $600 million annual ad budget for 2007, according to a paidcontent.org article.

A-B has already poured an estimated $30 million, but in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Tony Ponturo, VP of global media and sports marketing for A-B, “Bud.TV has the opportunity to be a part of setting the new standard for original programming delivered via the Web.”

The fundamental shift in consumer preferences from boob tube to “brew tube” (title of a New York Times Magazine article) marks the beginning of creative ways advertisers are reaching audiences, but it also may mark the end of an era that used to be ruled by television advertising spots.

Anti-Sports Marketing?

Good news for Colts fans, not so good news for Pats fans. The Colts, like the San Diego Chargers, blocked out fans of the opposing team from buying tickets to the AFC Championship game in Indianapolis, reported the Boston Globe.

The Colts organization put close to 1,000 tickets on sale but did not use the traditional vehicles that drive ticket sales. Fans could only get these tickets through walk-up at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis or at Ticketmaster outlets in Indiana and Louisville, Ky., reported the Globe.

No tickets were sold online. This seems to be against the rule of maximizing profit for this sporting event. Wouldn’t one want to sell to as many people in as many places as possible, regardless of where their loyalty lies? This policy was instated because it would give the home team more of an advantage if locals only bought tickets, according to Bruce Mohl the author of the article.

This rule is based off the assumption that those who live in Indianapolis are fans of the home team. If they weren't that would effectively negate what the Colts, and the Chargers for that matter, were trying to do. It comes down to a matter of priority, and clearly online marketing was not an issue considered when this policy was created.